2024

Extension of compulsory education from 17 to 18 years

The Ministry of Education has prepared a package of amendments to the Education Act, the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act, and the Vocational Educational Institutions Act to extend the compulsory education age from 17 to 18 years.

The aim of the extension is to reduce the school dropout rate and ensure that all pupils find a suitable learning option and acquire an upper secondary or vocational qualification. The obligation to learn will start at the age of 7 and continue until the age of 18. If the requirements for completing vocational or upper secondary education are fulfilled before the age of 18, the learning obligation is also deemed to be fulfilled.

The reform addresses several deepening problems: the increasing share of young people who do not continue their studies after basic education, the high dropout rate in the first year of upper secondary vocational education, and the growing number of young people without qualifications.

In today's world, basic education is not enough to succeed in the labor market. Estonia's Education Strategy aims for 90% of young people aged 20−24 to attain at least upper secondary education by 2035, up from 83% in 2022. The aim of the reform is to keep the share of young people with low educational attainment below 5% and to ensure that all young people acquire upper secondary education or vocational qualifications as a basis.

To provide all basic school graduates with a suitable learning path, there will be five options: academic upper secondary education, applied upper secondary education, adult education, vocational education, and preparatory studies. If a student is unable to make a choice or faces barriers, a new preparatory program will be available to help them overcome obstacles to further education.

To support students in finding suitable learning pathways and thriving in education, several changes are planned to increase permeability and develop both general and vocational education:

• Complement and clarify the role of the state and local authorities in ensuring the fulfillment of the learning obligation, including a single platform for entry into post-basic education, study places in preparatory education, and needs-based support for students.
• Detail the responsibilities of the school and the parent; emphasize the responsibility of the student to fulfill the learning obligation.
• Establish clearer guidelines for recognizing non-formal education in general education schools.
• Establish connections between general upper secondary courses and credit points used in vocational and higher education.
• Make vocational secondary education a competitive and attractive option alongside general upper secondary education by creating 4-year applied upper secondary curricula focusing on STEM, increasing the scope of general education and elective studies, and overall flexibility and learning options in VET.

After being adopted in the Parliament, the amendments are set to come into effect for students entering the 9th grade in the 2025/26 school year.

2023

Advancing integration of non-formal learning and formal education

Building on Estonia´s well-developed hobby education system with 80% of 7−19-year-olds participating in extracurricular activities, the Ministry of Education and Research advances closer integration of non-formal learning and formal education.

A project ’Supporting young people to succeed – building capacities to better integrate non-formal and formal learning’ was implemented in 2021−2023. The project aimed to create a framework to describe, assess and recognize knowledge, skills and experiences gained outside classroom in non-formal settings. This framework will aid in their incorporation into the curricula of basic and general uppers secondary schools, as well as VET programmes.

By the end of the project, the following has been established:

• A legal framework, funding, and management scheme for the integration of non-formal learning and formal education;
• Policy guidelines for implementing the integration;
• An implementation plan.

Recommendations for legislative changes, policy development, and the application of necessary measures were developed. Stakeholders were involved to develop guidelines for integrating non-formal learning into formal education and the guidelines were tested in schools.

This initiative aims to contribute to a more flexible and student-centered education system. As a result of the project, educational and youth work institution managers and leaders are better prepared for this policy change, and teachers and instructors are equipped to implement the integration.

The project was funded by EU through the Structural Reform Support Programme, and was implemented in cooperation with experts from the European Commission, consultancy company ICF (in collaboration with Praxis, Civitta, and Tallinn University), and the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research.
See policy recommendations. 
 

Estonian youth excel in societal knowledge: ICCS 2022 study insights

Estonian report of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) has shown that Estonian youths are well-informed citizens. This study, involving 3,961 eighth-grade students from 254 schools, focused on students' civic knowledge, attitudes and civic participation. In addition to the eight grade students, data was collected from teachers and school leaders.

Estonian students rank fourth in the 2022 survey after Taipei (China), Sweden and Poland. While most countries have seen a decline in student performance compared to the 2016 survey, Estonian students have remained almost at the same level as in 2016. The study attributes the drop in performance to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey shows that Estonia still has a high number of high achievers and a low number of low achievers. Girls' societal knowledge is higher than boys', with an average difference of 23 points. This pattern aligns with results from other participating countries and previous studies. 

The study also highlighted significant differences in attitudes towards human rights and gender equality between boys and girls, with boys showing a notable regression, especially in political matters related to women's roles and participation. Additionally, the knowledge level of students in Estonian language schools remains higher than in Russian language schools, though the gap has decreased since 2016.

The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, which Estonia has participated in since 1999, was conducted in 24 countries and regions last year. See the report.​

Changes to national curricula support the development of general competences and the integration of subjects

Changes to national curricula for basic schools and upper secondary schools aim to give the teachers more time and opportunities to apply a learner-centred approach in supporting the achievement of specific learning outcomes and focus on the development of general competences. Major changes concern physical education, art and technology subjects. Language learning will be diversified: the volume of Estonian as a second language will be increased, as well as the choice of foreign languages.

A positive attitude towards acquiring knowledge and skills as well as the ability to use them in everyday life have always been at the centre of Estonian national curricula. Learning content is reduced in several subjects. Updated subject field syllabi facilitate the effective integration of subjects and the creation of more meaningful connections between subjects. Cooperation between teachers is seen as the key to integration, ultimately enabling to reduce the workload of students and teachers and to improve the learning process.

The national curriculum is a framework, a common standard, on the basis of which the schools develop their own curricula. Although Estonian schools have had a lot of freedom and flexibility in organising education already, detailed national curricula which were no longer up to date were often perceived as limiting the innovation potential of schools. The changing curriculum empowers teachers, giving them even more freedom of choice and responsibility to design the learning process.

The planned changes support the goal set in the Education Strategy 2021‒2035 to increase learner-centredness and to better align the volume and content of education with developments in society and the future trends of the labour market. The working groups involved in updating the curricula included representatives of all subject teacher associations, university researchers, and experts of curriculum development. During the development process, the changed curricula have been tested in seven general education schools.

The changes will come into effect from the autumn of 2023. Schools must align their curricula and organisation of studies with the changes by 1 September 2024 at the latest.

Electronic final exams are being tested

Estonia is considering a transition from paper-based exams to electronic exams for students graduating from basic school and upper secondary education. E-exams are considered to enable more objective assessment, increased efficiency and security in administration, and use of learning analytics.

So far, all school leaving exams have been conducted on paper, and the electronic format has been used only with national low-stakes tests in different subjects and for different grades. With the implementation of e-exams, paper-based exams will be discontinued.

A survey is conducted to assess the technical and administrative readiness of schools, as well as to map the accommodations made for students with special educational needs so far. It is assumed that electronic exams can be more accessible to students with special needs, as they can be customised more easily than paper exams.

To assess and develop the readiness of stakeholders to organise and conduct e-exams, trial exams are conducted for students in grades 9 and 12 before the mandatory final exams this spring. The result of the trial exam does not affect the result of the actual exam. The pace of transition from paper-based exams to e-exams will depend on the feedback received. The trial exam enables to test not only the quality of the assessment tool but also the administration of electronic exams: registration to exams, notification of results, cross-use of facilities between schools within the local government, and the need for further development of the national examination information system.

For finishing basic school, students of grade 9 have to pass three final exams: in Estonian language, in mathematics, and in one more subject on the student’s choice. Upper secondary school state exams are held in in Estonian language, mathematics, and a foreign language (the latter can be replaced by an internationally recognised examination, such as CAE, DELF, or Goethe Zertifikat). Electronic exams for different subjects will be introduced in different school years.

2022

Minimum pay rate of teachers will increase

In order to increase the attractiveness of and appreciation for the teaching profession, the minimum pay rate of teachers is going to be increased from 1,412 euros to 1,749 euros (i.e. 23.9%) in 2023. This will be supplemented by a differentiation fund of 17%, which will allow school heads to regulate the work and salaries of teachers more flexibly; for example, they can reduce the workload of novice teachers and remunerate the extra work of class teachers. The 2023 state budget includes 106.6 million euros for an increase in teachers’ salaries. The average estimated salary for teachers will rise to 2,048 euros in 2023.

Transition to Estonian-medium education in kindergartens and schools with another language of instruction

As a legacy of the Soviet era, in the academic year 2021/22, Estonia had 73 general education schools (15% of schools) where the language of instruction was either Russian or Estonian/Russian. Over 21,000 students conducted their studies in Russian (13.5% of students). The PISA test results indicate that students of Russian-medium schools are behind their Estonian peers by one academic year on average (the difference is 42 points). The results of basic school final exams and upper secondary level state exams in schools where Estonian is a second language are also worrying – a significant number of students do not achieve the required B1 or B2 level of proficiency in Estonian by the end of basic or upper secondary school. The level of proficiency in Estonian as a second language among graduates is closely linked to the proportion of teachers meeting the state language requirements at particular schools.

Despite years of state support for teaching Estonian as a second language, creating study materials, and training teachers, the volume of these activities, systemic nature and set targets have not been sufficient to ensure that graduates of Russian-medium schools would have sufficient proficiency in Estonian and equal opportunities to continue their education in general upper secondary, vocational, or higher education in Estonian.

In February 2022, Estonian-medium Education Action Plan was completed. It is based on the Education Strategy 2021–2035 and the Estonian Language Development Plan 2021–2035 and describes the necessary additional activities for ensuring high-quality education in Estonian language to all Estonian students from pre-school to higher education.

In summer 2022, the governing parties concluded a coalition agreement and agreed on accelerated transition to Estonian-medium education in ECEC and basic education. Transition to Estonian-medium education starts in kindergartens and grades 1 and 4 of basic schools in 2024 and will be completed by 2030. Transition to Estonian-medium education directly affects 31,571 pupils and 2,245 teachers who do not meet the language requirements. These numbers do not include children/pupils who participate in language immersion groups and classes or teachers who comply with the language requirements.

• According to the transition plan, the necessary amendments to the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act and other legislative acts are going to be adopted in November 2022. 41 million euros have been allocated in the 2023 state budget for the preparations for and funding of the transition.
• All educational institutions and local governments where the concerned institutions are located are offered advice and counselling to support the transition.
• To alleviate the lack of teachers who are proficient in Estonian, the volume of initial and in-service teacher training is increased and new in-service training courses are developed to increase the level of proficiency in Estonian among teachers, for teachers of Estonian as a second language, for teaching in a multilingual and multicultural classroom, and for supporting integrated teaching of school subjects and language.
• In addition, the teachers of hobby schools and youth workers of local governments are offered methodology courses to support the development of language skills of children and teenagers.
• Funding is provided to ensure the next generation of teachers and motivational packages are offered (targeted scholarships, increased beginner’s allowance, and compensation of residence expenses), contemporary study resources (including digital) and assessment tools are being developed for teaching Estonian and other languages as well as for instruction in Estonian.
• Increasing the volume of teaching various subjects in Estonian in Russian-medium schools is going to receive more funding, support for additional courses and adaptation programmes of newly arrived immigrants is extended, additional Estonian lessons are offered to support transitioning to upper secondary and vocational schools, etc.
• A lot of attention is paid to the next generation of school heads and increasing the competency and motivation of the current school heads.
• In the next four years, the required amount for supporting the transition to Estonian-medium education is approximately 300 million euros.

The language proficiency requirements of teachers were linked to qualification requirements

Until now, the requirements for the proficiency of the teaching staff in Estonian were established pursuant to the Language Act. In accordance with the updated qualification requirements regulation, Estonian language proficiency requirements are going to be a part of the qualification requirements of teachers, head teachers, school heads, and support specialists starting from 1 September 2025. By that time, people employed in these positions must have a proficiency level in Estonian that complies with the stipulated level, which can be B2 or C1, depending on the position. This means that a work contract with an unspecified term cannot be concluded with a teacher whose language skills do not meet the requirements and that a head teacher, a school leader, or a support specialist can only be hired if they have the required level of proficiency. The amendment comes into effect in three years, giving time to the employees in the education sector to improve their Estonian language skills, and if necessary, sit an Estonian language proficiency examination. In connection with the accelerated transition to Estonian-medium education, faster enforcement of the amendment is under discussion.

The educators’ proficiency in Estonian is important for the transition to Estonian-medium education, supports the opportunities for professional development of the teaching staff, and ensures that people working at schools set an example to pupils in learning the state language. In order to support the implementation of the regulation, the Language Inspectorate offers consultations to schools and the employees of educational establishments are offered separate courses funded by the EU structural funds in addition to other language learning opportunities.

Low-stakes test on digital competence measures the actual level of digital knowledge and skills of pupils

In the spring of 2021, an experimental e-test on the digital competence of 8th and 11th-grade pupils of Estonian general education schools and 2nd-year VET pupils took place. Low-stakes tests are sample-based mark-free, but feedback-laden electronic assessment instruments. After completing the test, the pupil gets formative written feedback and the school receives general feedback on its pupils´ performance. It is a self-assessment tool for pupils and teachers, which highlights the topics or competencies that still need to developed and the ones where the pupil already excels.

Digital competence test has been carried out since 2018 for the third time. In spring 2021, nearly 4,000 students from general education schools and 1,000 vocational schools formed the sample of the test. In addition, all schools could take the test on voluntary basis. In total, more than 7000 students from all over Estonia participated (almost 50% of 8th-grade students, 28% 11th graders and 17% of VET students).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, past years in distance and hybrid learning have highlighted the importance of learners´ digital competences. As several tasks of the 2019 test have been also used in the 2021 test, it is possible to compare the results from different years and analyse to which extent distance learning has affected the level of students´ digital competence. The analysis of the results shows that there are no significant changes in the digital competence of learners compared to 2019. Based on the 2021 results, 84% of the 8th-grade pupils have basic level digital skills.

The digital competence test developed by researchers from the universities of Tallinn and Tartu on the basis of the digital competence model measures students´ actual knowledge and skills. The test was organised for the third time from 2018. Based on the analysis of the previous years´ results, the test has been further developed and shortened ‒ it now takes 60 minutes and during the test, pupils can use the internet. It is planned to add tasks on the use of e-learning and communication environments to the current test and to adjust the following version of the test to the DigComp 2.2 model.

For many years, special attention has been paid to the development of pupils´ digital skills and the introduction of digital solutions in teaching and learning at all levels of education. The digital focus has been one of the priorities of the Lifelong Learning Strategy (2014‒2020), and it forms an inherent part of the new Education Strategy (2021‒2035). Digital competence is one of the eight general competences which has to be developed through all of the subject areas of national curricula. The digital competence model of Estonian learners is based on the digital competence framework DigComp (European Commission, 2017).

Hobby education and other support measures alleviated the learning gaps caused by distance learning

To support schools in coping with the consequences of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state provided additional funding for hobby education and additional support measures in schools. The aim of the so-called learning interest camps was to support the learning motivation of basic or upper secondary education pupils, to develop their general competences, and to stimulate their interest in learning. The activities organised in the camps had to be related to the subject areas defined in the national curriculum. Support was allocated to 517 hobby camps, and in the summer of 2021 more than 65.000 pupils from all over Estonia had the opportunity to participate in their activities.

Additional 40 euros per student was allocated to the general education schools managers (local governments of private providers) to level the pupils learning gaps and to support their smooth transitions in the academic year 2021/2022. The analysis carried out in November 2021 shows that schools used the support to assess the learning difficulties experienced by individual pupils, to organise remedial studies and other support measures.

Through local governments, pupils in need were provided with a faster Internet connection for distance learning, and in cooperation with the Estonian Union of Child Welfare, computers were purchased for pupils to use at home. Basic school and upper secondary school graduates were offered free preparatory courses in cooperation with universities to support their preparation for the final and state exams in mathematics, Estonian and English.

The training center of the Education and Youth Board organised a series of 53 webinars “Smarter from a distance” for teachers. The webinars focused on maintaining mental health and providing support for distance learning and leveling of learning gaps. About 9,000 people attended the webinars and more than 20,000 viewed the recordings. In the feedback survey, teachers appreciated the webinars for their practical and informative approach, as well as for the possibility to review the recordings.